Ben Deihl | sports editor

William & Mary scraped by Duquesne 83-79 on Tuesday night at UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse after blowing 16- and 14-point leads in the first and second half.

“We took some punches,” said Duquesne Head Coach Dru Joyce III. “They shot the ball really well consistently. But we found a way to dig and get some stops.”

The Tribe took control of the game early, making their first six field goal attempts, including going 4-for-4 from 3. Before its first miss, William & Mary stormed out to a 12-point lead.

Tribe forward Cade Haskins buried two of the Tribe’s first four triples, finishing the night shooting 6 of 10 from the field with 16 points.

Fellow forward Tunde Vahlberg Fasasi joined in on the 3-point frenzy, hitting 3 of 6 attempts from beyond the arc and leading the Tribe with 17 points on 54.5% shooting.

William & Mary’s shooting prowess was on full display against Duquesne as the team shot 50% from 3 throughout the contest. The Tribe shot 56.7% from the field in the first half, including hitting 56.3% of their 3s in the first frame.

“They were hitting everything,” transfer guard Jimmie Williams said. “I thought we were really good defensively. We’re not perfect, but we’re trying as hard as we can. We’re not giving up on plays.”

The Tribe’s quick lead ballooned to as much as 16 in the first half, but Duquesne wasn’t ready to quit. Fast breaks and forced turnovers gave the Dukes life in the final 4 minutes, trimming the lead down to 8 before halftime.

The second half would open with a head-scratching play, as Williams lined up to take a 3. On his follow through, he stepped on a defender’s foot, drawing a whistle for an offensive foul and wiping the triple from Duquesne’s score.

The foul call turned into a fast break for the Tribe with a Vahlberg Fasasi layup, creating a 5-point swing from the blow of a whistle.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Joyce said. “There’s a lot of unexplainable calls on our home court that don’t make sense. It is what it is. I don’t have the whistle in my hand.”

Williams led Duquesne with 16 points, connecting 7 of his 13 shots. Five different Dukes scored double digits, including two players off the bench in David Dixon and Alex Williams.

William & Mary would continue their lights-out shooting into the early portions of the second half, building a 14-point lead over Duquesne near the halfway mark of the half. But that’s when the tide started shifting.

Despite his woes to open the second half, Jimmie Williams became Duquesne’s clutch man. He buried a 3 to cut the Tribe’s lead down to 8 again, and heroic paint work from Dixon continued the charge.

Dixon plowed through three defenders for his first and-1 of the game, and Tarence Guinyard followed suit after a Dixon steal, making it a one-possession game.

Coming back from injury, Jake DiMichele was playing in only his second game of the season, limited to 15 minutes of play. But that’s all he needed, as the veteran splashed a corner 3 with 7 minutes left to give the Dukes their first lead of the game.

“One thing we’re proud of is that we can endure,” Dixon said. “We were able to fight our way back. We endure taking a punch so we can throw one back.”

Another Dixon and-1 and elevated Williams’ play helped Duquesne build their lead up to 5 points. However, the Dukes started to play sloppy, fast-paced ball, allowing the Tribe to claw their way back from costly turnovers and shooting fouls.

Duquesne continued their foul trouble against the Tribe, although it was able to keep the team fouls under 20 after averaging 26 fouls per game through the first four games of the season.

Guinyard, Williams and Jakub Necas all eventually got in foul trouble at 4 apiece, limiting Duquesne’s personnel options down the stretch.

With just under 4 minutes to play, William & Mary had evened the score at 74. Clutch triples from Vahlberg Fasasi and Haskins gave the Tribe a 4-point lead.

A late push led by Guinyard and Williams wouldn’t be enough for a Duquesne comeback. The Dukes fell 83-79, handing them their third loss, the team’s second in three games.

Ben Deihl can be reached at deihlb1@duq.edu